Roig, a former member of Nadal's staff: "Technically, he had a special way of moving".

Adrien Guyot

le 23/11/2024 à 10h57

1 min to read

Nadal Roig

It's the main news of this week's tennis action. Rafael Nadal is now retired.

The Spaniard fell to Botic van de Zandschulp in the last match of his career on Tuesday, and his country was eliminated in the doubles decider by the Netherlands.

The end of a monument, which has earned him many tributes from sportsmen and women everywhere.

In an interview with L'Équipe, Francis Roig discusses Nadal on one specific point. He believes that Nadal is not necessarily the player who should serve as a benchmark.

Roig on Nadal's technique

"Rafael Nadal is not an example to follow. Technically, he has a particular gesture and an incredible acceleration of the arm, while having a lot of feeling in his hand.

We're talking about a gifted, spectacular, hard-working player. He has a very high level of concentration and commitment," asserted the Spaniard, himself a former professional tennis player.

"There were many periods when he couldn't work as hard as he would have liked because of physical problems.

We made sure that all his movements gradually resulted in less energy being expended when he hit the ball.

The more time passed, the more demanding he became of himself in training. Quality eventually took precedence over volume, but it was rare to see him finish sessions satisfied."